Right now a mobile payment system is kind of like a pair of Crocs in the mid-2000s: everyone has to have one and it isn't clear why. Of course Google Wallet has been around for years, but now that Apple Pay (and Samsung Pay, and apparently everyone is paying everything) is around Google needs something a little more competitive, perhaps using those newly-acquired Softcard assets. We've known about Android Pay, a new mobile payment API, for a few weeks.

After several weeks of rumors, Google has announced their partnership with Softcard. The purpose of this venture is to combine forces with Google Wallet, which has been around since 2011 but never enjoyed wide usage.

Wallet has to be pretty frustrating for Google. They beat Apple to the punch by quite a long time, but the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus basically introduced the lay public to mobile payments. How did this happen? Insert the tired cliches about Apple's control over hardware and software here. More interesting is what Google will do, considering how much they still have to gain by getting more adoption of their Apple Pay competitor.

There have been a number of rumors regarding Samsung's intention to build its own mobile payment platform to compete with Apple and Google, and maybe now we know how. The Korean company just bought mobile payment start up LoopPay for an undisclosed sum. Using LoopPay is a little like NFC, but it works on 90% of payment kiosks using standard magnetic stripe readers.

Believe it or not, a lot of Android fans were happy to see Apple announce its new Apple Pay system with the iPhone 6. Thanks to its reliance on NFC technology (welcome to 2011, Cupertino!) and Apple's famous marketing muscle, it meant that NFC payments might finally start taking off, particularly in the US.

LevelUp lets customers pay using their mobile phones at thousands of businesses across the country. The company's app simply opens up a barcode that, once scanned, handles the transaction. To make things even easier for users, an update is rolling out that adds support for Android Wear. So instead of scanning their phones, Wear device owners can have establishments scan their wrists instead.

Isis Mobile Wallet may have developed somewhat of a bad rep around these parts because it was the carrier-approved NFC payment alternative to Google Wallet, but no matter how many negative insults a few tech geeks have lobbed at it over the past few years, nothing has shaken the company quite like what the acronym ISIS is more commonly associated with these days - the militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

For some reason, plenty of us just hate carrying credit cards around, and we cannot wait for the day when we're free from this burden. I can see our ancestors now, wondering what the fuss is all about. Not too long ago, you balanced your checkbook and you liked it. Before that, there wasn't a way to avoid walking around with a wallet stuffed with cash and a pocket loaded with coins.

OpenTable has taken much of the stress out of making reservations. Just head online, click-click, and boom - you're done. Now the company wants to bring the same convenience to paying your bill. Screw waiting on the waiter to bring you the check. Just whip out your phone, tap to pay, and be on your way.

If you asked someone off the street what Everything Everywhere was, they probably wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about. The company is yet to establish its own brand presence in the UK, but it's certainly busy setting things up behind the scenes.

For those of you who don't know, the company has been around for a while, ever since the merger of T-Mobile and Orange.